Lamp attachment for ambulance cots



Feb. 21, 1950 P. w. MCLELLAN 2,498,287

LAMP ATTACHMENT FOR AMBULANCE COTS Filed March 10, 1947 Inventor Paul WMcLel/an Patented Feb. 21, 1950 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE ,LAMPATTACHMENT FOR AMBULANCE COTS Paul W. McLellan, Frederick, Okla.Application March 10, 1947, Serial No. 733,581

2 Claims. (Cl. 240 52) The present invention relates to new and usefulimprovements in illuminating attachments for ambulance or other cots andmore particularly to a self-contained electric lamp adapted for mountingto the frame of a cot whereby to illuminate the path along which apatient is carried when occupying the cot.

Another object of the present invention is to provide illumination meansof this character which includes a flashlight battery case having a lampmounted therein for illuminating the path along which the cot is beingmoved and providing adjustable means for attaching the battery case tocots of various types and to raise or lower the beam of light in adesired manner.

A further object of the invention is to provide self-containedilluminating means of this character together with adjustable attachingmeans to compensate for variations in construction of the cots andWithout necessitating any changes or alterations in the constructionthereof.

A further object is to provide a device of this character of simple andpractical construction, which is efficient and reliable in operation,relatively inexpensive to manufacture and otherwise well adapted for thepurposes for which the same is intended.

Other objects and advantages reside in the details of construction andoperation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, referencebeing had to the accompanying drawings forming part hereof, wherein likenumerals refer to like parts throughout, and in which:

Figure 1 is a side elevational view.

Figure 2 is an enlarged side elevational view with the frame of the cotshown in section.

Figure 3 is an enlarged sectional view taken substantially along theline 3--3 of Figure 2, and

Figure 4 is an enlarged fragmentary sectional view taken on the line 44of Figure 2.

Referring now to the drawings in detail wherein for the purpose ofillustration I have disclosed a preferred embodiment of the invention,the numeral 5 designates a flashlight case of conventional constructionin which a pair of flashlight batteries 6 are mounted and electricallyconnected to each other by a spring biased contact strip 1. The casealso includes a switch 8 and focusing screw 9 all of conventionalconstruction and one side of the case is provided with a lens ll! behindwhich a lamp (not shown) is mounted.

The case, in the present embodiment of the invention, is ofsubstantially rectangular form and to the lower edge of which is secureda sectional clamping collar designated generally at H and which includesa clamping section l2 fixedly, secured at one end to the case and apivoted .clamping section l3 hinged at one end as shown at M to thesection [2 and adapted for clamping engagement on a lower horizontalframe member l5 of an ambulance cot [6 by means of a bolt and wing nut[1 connecting the outer ends l8 and I9 of the clamping members l2 and [3to each other.

A plate 20 rises from the top of the case 5 to the rear side of whichare secured a pair of vertically extending spaced parallel guide strips2i to provide a slot 22 therebetween for receiving the front end of anadjusting screw 23. v

The opposed inner edges of the strips 2| are bevelled as shown at 24 toaccommodate a ball 25 secured to the front end of the screw 23 and withthe opposed edges of the strips overlying the ball as shown more clearlyin Figure 4 of the drawings.

The screw 23 is threaded in the downwardly extending end 26 of asectional clamping collar 21 which is secured by screws 28to an upperhorizontal frame member 29 of the cot. The rear end of the screw 23 isformed with a winged head 30 for adjusting the screw in the extension 26of the clamping collar 21, the screw being secured in adjusted positionby jamb nuts 3! positioned at opposite sides of the extension.

By adjusting the screw 23 forwardly or rearwardly, the upper end of theflashlight case 5 may be tilted upwardly or downwardly to verticallyadjust the beam of light projected forwardly of the cot by theflashlight.

By providing a self-contained illuminating attachment of this characternear the front end of the cot, the path over which the cot is beingmoved may be illuminated to thlus eliminate the danger of the hospitalattendant stumbling while carrying the patient on the cot.

The self-adjustment of the plate 20 with respect to the clamp 2'! bymeans of the screw 23 enables the attaching of the case to cot frameswhere variations in the spacing of the horizontal frame members occurs.

In view of the foregoing description taken in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings it is believed that a clear understanding of theconstruction, operation and advantages of the device will be quiteapparent to those skilled in this art. A more detailed description isaccordingly deemed unnecessary.

It is to be understood, however, that even though there is herein shownand described a preferred embodiment of the invention the same issusceptible to certain changes fully comprehended by the spirit of theinvention as herein described and the scope of the appended claims.

I claim:

1. An illuminating attachment for portable cots and comprising aself-contained electrically energized lamp unit, upper and lower clampsconnecting the unit to a part of a cot, ,one of said clampsbeingipivoted to the cot, an adjusting feed screw carried by the otherof the clamps and means slidably connecting the feed screw to the unitand operable to tilt the unit to vertically adjust the beam of lightprojected by the unit.

2. An illuminating attachment .for Portable cots and comprising aself-contained electric lamp unit, a split collar fixed .to one edge :ofthe unit for clamping engagement with a part of the cot, a bracket fixedto a relatively opposite edgeof the unit and including a guide channel,

a feed screw adjustably carried by another part of the cot, and a ballat the outer end of the screw and working in said channel to adjust theangle of the unit and with the split collar turning on its attached partof the cot as its fulcrum.

PAUL W. McLELLAN.

REFERENCES CITED ,The followingjlieferences are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS 2,064,880 Bostic Dec. 22, 1936

